ALAN MAIN is as manic as ever. After a training session in Stirling, the St Johnstone goalkeeper makes a mad dash for McDiarmid Park, where he is to feature in a photoshoot with the Scottish Cup.
Then, he rushes home to drop the car off so that his wife can do the school run, and frantically packs some gear into the back of a minibus for reasons he will explain later. When he finally sits down to draw breath – and there is still plenty of i
t at the grand old age of 41 – he has to get up again because the family's Jack Russell is biting and scraping at the kitchen door."Harry," he shouts."Will you give it a rest?"
Talk about pots and kettles. Just when Main's career is supposed to be winding down, all hell seems to be breaking loose. One of the oldest players in senior football, he is just 17 matches away from another title with St Johnstone, 14 appearances short of the 345 made by Drew Rutherford, holder of the club's all-time record, and champing at the bit ahead of Tuesday's Scottish Cup fourth-round tie against Rangers. Four years older than his manager, Derek McInnes, the player enjoying his second spell at the Perth club is running on adrenaline, but then, hasn't he always?
"I'm a hyper kind of person," admits Main. "I probably talk too much, but it keeps me going. It also helps that we have a young manager who is a winner. I still have that excitement, that appetite to do well. I've been doing this for 22 years, but I still enjoy going to work. At some clubs, you don't enjoy it as much as you would like, but you are under contract and you can't move. In all my time at St Johnstone, I've never felt like that. My contract runs out at the end of this season, and I'm desperate to do well."
These are challenging times for Main, who rejoined the club two summers ago, after spells with Livingston and Gretna. Quite apart from the playing, which has helped his team to lead the First Division by six points, he does a bit of goalkeeping coaching on the side, partly with St Johnstone and partly with, wait for it, Rangers. Hence the minibus. Two nights a week he heads for Glasgow with his son, Nicholas, a midfielder in the Ibrox club's under-17 side, although it would be wise to question neither about his allegiances. Main junior and his younger brother, Josh, a budding goalkeeper of course, are season-ticket holders at McDiarmid Park, where they will be happy with nothing less than a home win on Tuesday night.
Despite the distractions, age has concentrated their father's mind. Although he has felt fit and lighter of late, he knows how mistakes are likely to be interpreted. His training is shorter and sharper than it used to be, he takes advantage of extra days off, and he is obsessive about how best to prepare for match days. "When you're younger, you say 'let's go play', and that's it. Now, I'm much more aware of myself, much more conscious of the need to do the right thing. Maybe it's because I'm coaching now, but I'm always thinking about whether I've got my warm-up right or whether I'm standing in the right position during games. I'm even trying not to get involved with the crowds as much as I used to."
Main has become something of a cult hero among St Johnstone fans, loved not just for his monster kicks and extravagant forays over the 18-yard line, but also for the freedom with which he expresses himself on the pitch. His demonstrative ways, usually in the event of a goal, have made him as popular in Perth as he is reviled in Paisley, where he is accused, preposterously, of throwing a match against his first club, Dundee United, so that they would escape relegation at St Mirren's expense. Neither do supporters of Dundee, local rivals to both United and Saints, care much for his posturing. "People love to hate certain players, and I seem to be one of them, but it's only because I show how I feel. I wish there was more of that in the game. Every fan wants to be you, they want to have the feeling you're having. If they are watching a player love it as much as they do, that gives us a relationship. It would kill me if I couldn't show what it meant."
In November 2000, when Scotland lost to Australia in a friendly at Hampden, a streaker wearing only a St Johnstone tattoo dived in front of the dugouts, shouting "get Alan Main on". Alas, his failure to win even one full cap, despite plenty traipsing about Europe as a squadman, is among the few disappointments of his career. Main was better than many who have worn gloves for their country, but for much of his career he had Andy Goram and Jim Leighton to contend with. "In my time, the other goalkeepers were probably better than me, but I did feel that I went away with them often enough to deserve a chance, particularly in friendlies. A lot of people say it should have happened, which kind of makes me feel worse, but I can have no complaints."
Maybe if he had signed for Rangers, as he nearly did before Jock Wallace left in 1986, things would have been different, although the lad from Lossiemouth whose first spell in Perth covered eight years has plenty to be grateful for. Among his highlights are the promotion-winning season under Paul Sturrock in 1997, the League Cup final appearance against Rangers two years later, and a final-day defeat of Dundee in which his favourite save, an instinctive reaction to James Grady's header, helped St Johnstone to finish third in the Premier League. In the resulting UEFA Cup campaign, they were jousting with Monaco, and Fabien Barthez, whose jersey still hangs in the dining room of Main's home on the outskirts of Perth. After the second leg at McDiarmid Park, the Frenchman was to be found in the corner of the away dressing room, smoking a cigarette.
In the last year or two, there have been signs that St Johnstone might just be ready for another shot at the big time. They held Rangers to a draw in last year's Scottish Cup semi-final, only to lose on penalties, as Main had done for Gretna in the 2006 final. Unbeaten in 14 league matches this season, they are a resilient lot with a sprinkling of players, such as former Chelsea midfielder Jody Morris, who should be playing at a higher level. "I'm looking forward to seeing Jody against Rangers," says Main. "He's a really good footballer, the type you need to keep the ball. He will enjoy that environment, against better players.
"We are going to be really dogged and try to win this game, but for me, the be-all and end-all is the league. People think I'm a Dundee United fan, and I did have a great time there, but St Johnstone are the club I will always be closest to. I've been through so much with them, and I seem to be a fans' favourite. Now it looks like I will finish my career here, and when I do, I want this club to be in the SPL, not just for me, but for them."
